Governor Rauner this evening activated the State Incident Response Center (SIRC) in Springfield to ensure state personnel and equipment are ready to be quickly deployed if needed to help local emergency responders with public safety issues following tornado touchdowns in Illinois this evening.

“I activated the State Incident Response Center to ensure we’re ready to act quickly if any local responders need our assistance,” said Governor Rauner. “We’ve already deployed staff from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency to the area to support local response efforts.”

Representatives from more than a dozen state agencies have reported to the SIRC. State officials are assessing the storm’s impact and communicating with local response officials to determine if state resources are needed to ensure citizen safety.